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A Legal Beagles member has successfully defended Restons Solicitors notorious collection charge.
Restons Solicitors, acting on behalf of HFC Bank, brought the claim against 'fuzzybrain' back in April of this year.
Due to a change in circumstances she found herself unable to afford repayments on a £26000 loan taken out in 2007. She contacted Payplan and offered HFC £150 a month, just under half the contractual installment, until her circumstances improved. She has continued making this payment ever since.
Despite agreeing to discuss the issue with Payplan HFC swiftly passed the debt over to Restons solicitors who soon instigated court action against her, adding an excessive £3.5k Collection Charge, as well as solicitors costs and court fees to the amount owing. Additionally Restons did not record the payments made against the account and continued claiming the initial amount.
After checking all the documentation was in order through a Subject Access Request and requesting a copy of the original credit agreement, Fuzzybrain entered her defence to the court.
She argued that the Collection Charge imposed by Restons was unlawful as a disproportionate penalty. Restons response was that the charge was imposed by HFC before they handed it over to Restons, and was a contractual amount of around 16% in the event of default. However, this does not appear anywhere in HFC's loan terms and conditions and certainly is not communicated to borrowers when taking out a loan with the company.
The hearing date arrived and this morning Fuzzybrain met with Restons solicitor before entering the court. Restons told her they had removed the collection charge from the claim and would be asking for a Forthwith payment order and a Charging Order over her property to secure the debt.
She was aware that Restons often ask for a charge over property immediately and informed the Judge that it was normal for a charging order to be granted only if payments under an installment order were not made. She also pointed out that her property was currently in negative equity and was the family home.
The Judge agreed and denied the request for a charging order. He made a payment order at a slightly higher amount than she had been paying through Payplan, to be paid over 8 years. The judge also stated as as it was a consumer credit agreement no further interest or charges can be added to the debt.
We are aware of numerous cases in County Courts where Restons have backed down when challenged and removed the Collection Charge before reaching a hearing.
If Restons bring a claim against you defend the collection charge and attend court. They rely on defendants apathy and ignorance of the system to collect these excessive fees and all too often are allowed to have the charges rubber stamped through the court system gaining default judgments against debtors. We also suggest you check they have recorded payments made to them correctly and reduced the balance accordingly - keep evidence of your payments.
(the full thread HFC issued court proceedings - Restons Collection Charge removed - Legal Beagles )
( if you Google hfc restons collection charge you will find a plethora of cases where Restons have backed down on the extortionate collection charge )
Restons Solicitors, acting on behalf of HFC Bank, brought the claim against 'fuzzybrain' back in April of this year.
Due to a change in circumstances she found herself unable to afford repayments on a £26000 loan taken out in 2007. She contacted Payplan and offered HFC £150 a month, just under half the contractual installment, until her circumstances improved. She has continued making this payment ever since.
Despite agreeing to discuss the issue with Payplan HFC swiftly passed the debt over to Restons solicitors who soon instigated court action against her, adding an excessive £3.5k Collection Charge, as well as solicitors costs and court fees to the amount owing. Additionally Restons did not record the payments made against the account and continued claiming the initial amount.
After checking all the documentation was in order through a Subject Access Request and requesting a copy of the original credit agreement, Fuzzybrain entered her defence to the court.
She argued that the Collection Charge imposed by Restons was unlawful as a disproportionate penalty. Restons response was that the charge was imposed by HFC before they handed it over to Restons, and was a contractual amount of around 16% in the event of default. However, this does not appear anywhere in HFC's loan terms and conditions and certainly is not communicated to borrowers when taking out a loan with the company.
The hearing date arrived and this morning Fuzzybrain met with Restons solicitor before entering the court. Restons told her they had removed the collection charge from the claim and would be asking for a Forthwith payment order and a Charging Order over her property to secure the debt.
She was aware that Restons often ask for a charge over property immediately and informed the Judge that it was normal for a charging order to be granted only if payments under an installment order were not made. She also pointed out that her property was currently in negative equity and was the family home.
The Judge agreed and denied the request for a charging order. He made a payment order at a slightly higher amount than she had been paying through Payplan, to be paid over 8 years. The judge also stated as as it was a consumer credit agreement no further interest or charges can be added to the debt.
We are aware of numerous cases in County Courts where Restons have backed down when challenged and removed the Collection Charge before reaching a hearing.
If Restons bring a claim against you defend the collection charge and attend court. They rely on defendants apathy and ignorance of the system to collect these excessive fees and all too often are allowed to have the charges rubber stamped through the court system gaining default judgments against debtors. We also suggest you check they have recorded payments made to them correctly and reduced the balance accordingly - keep evidence of your payments.
(the full thread HFC issued court proceedings - Restons Collection Charge removed - Legal Beagles )
( if you Google hfc restons collection charge you will find a plethora of cases where Restons have backed down on the extortionate collection charge )
